Mitsubishi Concept RA
This is just for a buddy of mine who hasn't seen the drawings...since I rarely like posting concept drawings of cars. Anyhow, this the Concept RA set to debut at the Detroit Motor Show this year. Clearly it reeks of Eclipse like lines, with a return emphasis on a more aggressive stance than the rather toned-down look of the current model. The concept shares many parts with the Evo drivetrain - being a auto-manual affair and all. What about that engine? Yes, the thing is turbo'd. Under the hood resides a 4 cylinder turbo diesel to be exact. This car is being touted as a green car...so better emissions and better mileage, with just enough oomph to make it sporty...sounds very Honda-like. >=)
Hot Wheels Designer’s Challenge
So at this year's SEMA, Hot Wheels held a design contest for designers to join in hopes of having their creations made into little die-cast toy. Couple of neat little designs, but I think my favorites have to be the over-the-top Honda and Mitsubishi entries. I'll be perusing the toy aisles at TRU when these come out in Spring 2008...
Honda's Honda Racer
As you can see this little puppy takes much inspiration from Honda's F1 heritage. Using the Honda logo as a basis for the car, they planted an oversized version of Honda's V10 engine from F1. This should be on every Honda fanboys list...lol.
Mitsubishi's Mitsubishi Double Shot
This entry from Mitsubishi takes it's inspiration from the Evo and runs with it. Then goes and sticks a 4G63 engine up front and in back, just for good measure...can you imagine the nightmare this car would be?
The Return of the Drift Truck
Haven't seen this video in a while but Jalopnik brought it back after there little poll, "Is Drifting a Sport?" 53.8% of Jalopnik readers feel that drifting wasn't a sport and most if not all were splitting hairs by pulling out dictionaries and figure skating analogies. Ehh, pretty funny video and some people just need to chill and shouldn't get to uppity over the sports worthiness of drifting, IMO.
PSA: Guitar Hero is Crack
So it's been about a week plus since my last post. Leg has since been pulled out of its cast and I'm walking around like a 60 year old man. You would think with all that time being stuck next to my laptop I'd be chugging out posts...but I haven't. The last I wrote was stuff coming out of the L.A. Auto Show. Since then it's been straight 24 hours of Guitar Hero III. I sware I can't put the fake guitar down...this is worse than my Street Fighter II cravings. I had to pretty much put my guitar in the trunk of my car so that I would have a reason not to play: It's to far to get my guitar since it'll take me forever to get there...lol.
What's kind of funny, is that I have replaced my need to play Guitar Hero III with a little hidden gem called Zack & Wiki for the Nintendo Wii. If you are at all interested in puzzle adventure type games...the kind where you point and click your way around an environment to get to a certain goal, this thing can keep you entertained for a good amount of time. Even though the bright colored cartoonish graphics scream "KIDDY GAME," the actual puzzle solving is quite involved...in fact I doubt any kid can just breeze through this game. This game will not have you flinging the remote by accident into the TV, you'll prolly just chuck the remote on purpose in pure frustration. Still, it's overall a solid game for those that are into games that require more than just mindless button mashing and head shots full of giblets.
Anyhow, since I'm on a rant about gaming, has anyone else notice the plethora of AAA titles that were released in the past couple weeks? It all started with Halo 3 and soon followed by the likes of Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Rockband, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Contra 4 and the reason of this post, Guitar Hero III. Not to mention some note worthy fillers like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Raymond Ravin' Rabbids 2, Medal of Honor 2, Lego Star Wars, The Simpsons, Rachet & Clank, Naruto, Beautiful Katamari...etc. The hell am I suppose to get the money to feed my video gaming habit? *sigh* It helps having a birthday around this time, next to Christmas.
Time to start saving them pennies…
The US-spec GT-R made it's debut in Los Angeles and they announced how much the monster will cost: 69,850 pennies will get you a base GT-R, while 71,900 of them will get you a Premium model. All that will get you car that bests the Z06 and gets around the Nurburgring faster than a certain Porsche.
Some stuff from the presser:
GT-R is a multi-dimensional performance machine that lives up to the concept of “the ultimate supercar that can be driven by anyone, anytime, anywhere” and achieved a lap time of 7:38 around the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife, one of the fastest times achieved by a production-spec vehicle to date.
Under the hood, the Nissan GT-R features an all-new 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 producing 480 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque (estimated), while meeting ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) standards. The engine is backed by an all-new, paddle-shifted GR6 sequential 6-speed dual clutch rear transaxle.
The new Nissan GT-R is built on an exclusive all-new Premium Midship platform. This new platform enables the use of a world’s first independent rear transaxle ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system, which places the transmission, transfer case and final drive at the rear of the vehicle, optimizing weight distribution and maximizing handling capability.
Suspension is a special multi-link Bilstein DampTronic system, and the braking system is made up of Brembo full-floating drilled rotors, low steel high stiffness brake pads and Brembo mono block six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. Tires are nitrogen-filled Bridgestone high-performance run flat or optional Dunlop high-performance all-season tires, on exclusive GT-R 20-inch wheels.
The Nissan GT-R’s functional styling utilizes advanced aerodynamics, evoking the lines of a well-trained athlete. GT-R’s hybrid body construction combines steel, carbon fiber and die-cast aluminum, and features a low coefficient of drag of 0.27, while achieving high front and rear downforce.
GT-R’s interior balances functionality with a sense of ease and comfort. It features sculpted performance bucket seats for an optimal driving position, a cockpit-style instrument panel with a large center-mounted tachometer and multi-function display – which includes mechanical and driving information, as well as an on-board driving recorder.
Total vehicle adjustability is provided by a “set-up switch” located in the center of the instrument panel, enabling the driver to adjust transmission shifts, shock absorbers and the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC-R) in three settings – Normal, Comfort or “R,” for ultimate handling. Available is a specially designed 11-speaker Bose® sound system, with speakers mounted in rigid aluminum die cast panels, which provides sound quality suitable for a supercar.
Yes, Hyundai!
Looks like the Korean automaker is set on trying to storm its way into the sports coupe market. This is the Hyundai Genesis coupe which debuted at the L.A. Auto Show. Make no mistake, this is no Tiburon replacement - this here is a RWD coupe that is powered by a V6 pumping out something over 300hp and 250 lb-ft. of torque. Quite an impressive little coupe I must say. Considering it's a Hyundai, it'll probably be the best bang for the buck on the market come 2009.
Move over Hybrid…
At the Los Angeles Auto Show today, Honda introduced a production version of the concept FCX seen earlier, named the FCX Clarity. The FCX Clarity will be available for a 3 year lease at $600/month. This covers a limited insurance and maintenance. The car will initially be available in areas that have hydrogen fuel cell stations, which is namely, Southern California. I wouldn't mind having one these as a daily driver...it has considerable power and it beats the 20mpg average I'm pulling with the S2! lol.
Need Wallpaper?
So in an effort to make this laptop my own, I was on a search for wallpaper. As of this moment, I still have the default HP wallpaper...which was fine by me, until people started making fun of the fact that I hadn't changed it. Did some Google searching and came across this site from Japan and was quite impressed by the detailed modeling. I'm sure you'll be too...
If you continue on to the link there are more classic JDM as well as European cars on the site. Not fluent in Japanese, but hey I'm guessing this guy, Satoru Kato, has a passion for cars just as much as we do. In fact the wallpapers are only a part of the site. Seems like there's shadowbox stuff, photoshopped stuff, as well as papercrafts!!! Hooray papercrafts! Something to kill the boredom while my leg is still broken. Awesome site just to look through... [Art66 Wallpaper] [Art66 Blog]
D1GP is this month!!!
Where have I been? Then again it's been a while since I've been to a D1 event. The first one was awesome in the sense it renewed some emotion I have about the import culture. Of course it was beaten to death with the JDM-tards and the Fast and Furious crowd...but still...watching cars slide across pavement is always fun...especially when you almost lose a hand to the rear end of Silvia while trying to take a picture of it. ;-P
Old School: Honda 1300 Coupe 9
So I was perusing Jalopnik's Fantasy Garage and came across this little gem from Honda. Not widely known to the international community, this JDM model (with a tiny amount exported to Australia) was a technological wonder that only Mr. Honda himself could pull off. Let's find some choice quotes:
Let's start with that engine. One hundred sixteen horsepower doesn't sound like much until you realize the grunt is coming from a 1.3-liter mill at 7200 rpm. That's 88 hp per liter...
...When the much lauded and undeniably sporty Acura Integra debuted in 1986, its 1.6-liter DOHC 16V VTEC produced 113 hp. That was only about 70 hp per liter. At this point we need to mention the Coupe 9 sported four carburetors, had hemispherical combustion chambers, and was both air cooled and dry sumped. Much like Dr. Piech and his Veyron, cars like the 1300 Coupe 9 are what happen when your CEO happens to hold a degree in engineering. An ego the size of an island doesn't hurt, either.
This on top of a car that was FF but handled more like a RWD and it looks beautiful? Hmmm, wonder why more of these weren't available - I guess that's what makes it a limited run, eh? This indeed would fall into my cult classic status...
Catch the article here: Jalopnik's Fantasy Garage